Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • A region of southwest Asia generally defined as including Asia Minor, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Near East is sometimes considered also to include the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, and the area around the Nile River in northeast Africa.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • proper noun The region located south of Eastern Europe, comprised of Anatolia, Transcaucasia, the Levant, and Mesopotamia.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the area around the eastern Mediterranean; from Turkey to northern Africa and eastward to Iran; the site of such ancient civilizations as Phoenicia and Babylon and Egypt and the birthplace of Judaism and Christianity and Islam; had continuous economic and political turmoil in the 20th century

Etymologies

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Examples

  • It is sometimes said that the history of the Near East is a history that was until fairly recently of happy religious co-existence; well that's overstating it considerably.

    Archbishop's speech at BibleLands Conference on Christian Communities in the Middle East 2008

  • It is sometimes said that the history of the Near East is a history that was until fairly recently of happy religious co-existence; well that's overstating it considerably.

    Archbishop's speech at BibleLands Conference on Christian Communities in the Middle East 2008

  • The Ottoman Empire, until then, had kept a lid on all the problems of what was then called the Near East -- including the Balkans and Iraq.

    Progress Put On Hold 2008

  • Another indication of this new interest of America in the commerce of the Near East is the recent visit of a large party of American merchants and manufacturers to central and eastern Europe, where they were entertained by prominent officials and organizations of the large cities, and new bonds of friendship and understanding were established which can not but lead to closer and greater commercial interchange.

    State of the Union Address (1790-2001) United States. Presidents.

  • On the other hand, the darkest portent in the Near East is the continued intransigeance of France.

    The New World of Islam Lothrop Stoddard 1916

  • Army had been trained by German officers upon a German system; the expansion of German and Austrian political military influence throughout the Near East was a cardinal part of the German creed and policy.

    A General Sketch of the European War The First Phase Hilaire Belloc 1911

  • Asiatic end of the Mediterranean, though now called the Near East, were then the Far West, because emigrants from the older lands of Asia had gone no farther than this twelve thousand years ago.

    Flag and Fleet How the British Navy Won the Freedom of the Seas William Charles Henry Wood 1905

  • To occidental travellers the most vivid impression produced by a first contact with the Near East is the surprise of being in a country where the human element increases instead of diminishing the delight of the eye.

    In Morocco Edith Wharton 1899

  • Another indication of this new interest of America in the commerce of the Near East is the recent visit of a large party of American merchants and manufacturers to central and eastern Europe, where they were entertained by prominent officials and organizations of the large cities, and new bonds of friendship and understanding were established which can not but lead to closer and greater commercial interchange.

    State of the Union Address William H. Taft 1893

  • The Near East is the most water-short region in the world.

    SeekingAlpha.com: Home Page Israel's Financial Expert 2010

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